U.S. homes in the process of foreclosure sold at an average 27 percent discount in the first quarter and purchases of distressed properties fell to less than half the peak set two years ago, according to RealtyTrac Inc.
The discount reflects the price of distressed properties relative to normal sales. A total of 158,434 homes that sold in the period received notices of default, auction or repossession, down 16 percent from the fourth quarter and 36 percent from a year earlier, RealtyTrac said in a report today. At that pace, it would take three years to clear the supply of distressed and bank-owned houses, the Irvine, California-based company said.
“While this is probably helping to keep home prices relatively stable, it is also delaying the housing recovery,” Chief Executive Officer James Saccacio said in the statement.
So even if there were no more additional foreclosures, it would still take into 2014 to clear out the backlog and to start stabilizing housing prices. Fewer people are buying homes because A) lending standards are tougher and B) prices keep falling. Those who wait to buy will be rewarded with a lower price, plan and simple, and since nobody's buying and foreclosures continue to flood the market, you have a classic oversupply and nobody buys market...meaning housing prices will continue to fall for years to come.
No way out of the housing depression in this country, not anytime soon. And neither the Democrats nor the Republicans seem all that worried about the three-year housing collapse going another three years...
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